Sunday Stow Breakfast - 19th Feb

[kingfixer]

Good turnout today !! Poor Monty was a bit cold when he turned up.
Hopefully the first of many more meets this year !!!!

[Kwacky]

[Itchy]

I've just got in.

A brew in my hands before I even put my helmet down, and despite having a full English and a slice of Bakewell Tart at Lucy's, I'm also treating myself to a slice of Lemon Fudge cake!

[TonyB]

Now that's commitment

[Farmer1]

Nice to meet up with you guys earlier, was a real blast to be back out on two wheels again.
Already looking forward to the next ride out and another helping of cake!

[Frankie]

Good to see everyone Hope your all back safely. A lot of bikes out today

To Farmer and Rossgo, obviously you got a sugar rush for the ride home..... Take it easy they said,
Nice little ride back, was very enjoyable.

[D6Nutz]

Really enjoyed getting the bike out for a gentle run, also great to catch up with everyone.

Hopefully the start of e great season of riding and cake

[Farmer1]

Good to see everyone Hope your all back safely. A lot of bikes out today

To Farmer and Rossgo, obviously you got a sugar rush for the ride home..... Take it easy they said,
Nice little ride back, was very enjoyable.

Ha ha it was a bit dryer on the way back,

[Monty]

Good turnout today !! Poor Monty was a bit cold when he turned up.
Hopefully the first of many more meets this year !!!!

Fecking freezing and definitely not a leather day!

Great to catch up with everyone though, roll on the Spring.

[Rossgo]

Great ride out today and brilliant meeting everyone again. I feel really happy we managed to all meet and get a good blast about. 150miles all in, I got to reading and my fuel light came on, I thought I'm sure I'll still have plenty in there but got closer to town center and saw a BP so thought I'd take a look and fill up with a fiver worth...I had nothing left!!

Frankie, Nutz and Farmer great catching up and hopefully soon we'll be out again.

Until next time

[Itchy]

What a cracking start to the biking year.

Well, my biking year anyway, I know some of you are more hardy than me and have been out already. My only stint on the bike so far this year has been to take the bike for its MOT.
In fact, if I remember correctly the last rideout I had was last year when me, Kwacky and Kingfixer met up in October at, funnily enough, the very same tea room we took over today.

So today was a well-needed cobweb-blaster.

And blast the cobwebs it did, a number of times I was giggling away in my helmet after applying the throttle in a ham-fisted manner!

The weather was ideal, although I'm not sure Monty would agree with his early start and long ride down. I was textiled up and paranoid that I'd be too cold, but it was fine. Well, fine-ish considering I had a compression top underneath my long-sleeved top which was underneath the windproof liner in the jacket. And the Ronhills underneath the liner in my trousers but on top of the finest military issue underpants!!!

Roads were a little muddy in places, which didn't exactly instill me with confidence. Some due to the winter weather, some due to a JCB smearing the shit all over the road on Fish Hill!

I definitely need to do some kind of training this year to get some confidence in leaning the bike over. I know it comes with experience but standard fare for me is to wobble around for ages, get some confidence around August time, and then tuck it up for the winter shortly afterwards. I might have a chat with the guys at i2i, I've done a couple of days with them and they're really good.

Today though...

So good.

I started this morning a lone wolf, hungry for prey, possible in the form of Audis and Beemers.

I met up with another wolf, an Alpha male, on my prowl. He guided me through his territory to his feeding ground where we awaited the arrival of the pack. All of a sudden, I wasn't that lone wolf anymore, I was a fully-fledged pack member.

Chowing down on a deer carcass...Sorry, piping hot breakfast, exchanging war stories and laughing and joking with my fellow slappers was a real boost, a proper feel-good kick-start to the year. It's set me right up.

And on the way back, a high point which summed up Tankslap in one 10 second moment...
Came to a stop alongside Monty in town and blipped the throttle.

He blipped his a bit higher.

I blipped mine a bit higher.

Monty pretty much redlined his.

I did the same, only to look up and see Kwacky shaking his head like a disapproving dad.

Cue a big belly laugh from me, as I know he's secretly grinning away inside his helmet!!!

[Monty]

^ That! LOL did you see the flames?

[kiwikrasher]

Sounds like you all had a blast!

[Kwacky]

Mate, I'm always happy to ride with you. Anything my bike can do yours can do. Mine is slightly heavier and slower turning. So if I'm taking a corner at a certain speed yours will do the same.

[Itchy]

Yeah, I get that and try and put it into practice, it's just having the confidence to actually lean over and do it.

I'll get there.

[Monty]

Nothing a day out in the Peaks wouldn't sort Itchy!